The Milbank girls tennis team tangled with Aberdeen Roncalli on September 26, at Cantine Courts in Milbank. The Lady Bulldogs were defeated 7-2. “Going... Lady Bulldogs See Net Loss to Roncalli

The Milbank girls tennis team tangled with Aberdeen Roncalli on September 26, at Cantine Courts in Milbank. The Lady Bulldogs were defeated 7-2.

“Going into this match, we felt we could take two of the three doubles matches,” said Milbank Head Coach Jim Dahl. “But Roncalli stood more consistent and swept us. Hats off to them as they controlled the net and baseline.”

Jodi DeVaal and Halli Essington earned the only wins of the day at No. 1 and No. 2 singles positions, respectively. “Jodi’s match was close the entire way,” said Dahl. “She did a nice job of working her opponent with deeper groundstrokes down the middle, forcing errors.”

According to Dahl, Essington had a different journey to victory. “She started off slow, but recovered to play the rest of her match with consistency. These were two super Homecoming wins and much needed in our final South Dakota match before the state meet.”

Milbank travels to Benson, Minnesota, Thursday, September 28, for their final match of the regular season. The Lady Bulldogs then travel to Sioux Falls for the 2017 SDHSAA Tennis Tournament on Thursday, October 5, through Saturday, October 7.

Results from the Aberdeen Roncalli match:
Milbank 2, Aberdeen Roncalli 7
Singles – 1. Jodi DeVaal defeated Ellie Litzen, 5-3, 5-3; 2. Halli Essington defeated Mariah Bradner, 2-6, 6-4 (10-6); 3. Rhianna Cantine fell to Abby Hansen, 5-1, 5-1; 4. Rhianna Welberg lost to Allison Schack, 5-2, 5-0; 5. Hattie Muellenbach dropped to Ali Muller, 5-3, 5-2; 6. Jenna Johnson fell to Hallie Haskel, 6-4, 5-1.
Doubles – 1. DeVaal/Essington fell to Litzen/Hansen, 5-2, 5-2; 2. Cantine/Welberg lost to Bradner/Schack, 5-2, 5-2; 3. Muellenbach/Johnson dropped to Muller/Haskel, 5-3, 5-2.
Exhibition matches – Alexis Ninneman fell to Gemini Cantelope, 8-1; Abby Michels lost to Maria Barnett, 8-3; Ninneman/Michels fell to Cantelope/Barnett, 10-4.

Photo: Coach Jim Dahl with Rhianna Cantine and Rhianna Welberg.

Staff Writer

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